Sports related injuries have been a growing concern across all levels of play – youth to professional – over the last several years. With stories on horrific injures becoming more prevalent in mainstream media, many talented athletes are shying away from playing to their full potential.
The amount of stress a player’s body endures over time is presumably unmeasurable. Instead, most of the stress becomes apparent by way of recurring injuries, or worse, lifelong conditions that develop from extended play without proper monitoring, treatment or rehabilitation.
Until now, that is.
At the beginning of the season, Community Health Network provided Indy Eleven’s coaching staff and players access to the VX Sport system, a series of tools that monitors player fitness and wellness.
The system works in two ways. First, players are asked to submit a six-question wellness report on sleep, fatigue, overall wellness, hydration levels and muscle soreness. Second, players wear a GPS-equipped harness during training that records their accelerations, decelerations, distance, high-speed distances and heart rate.
“Using all of that information, all that data, we’re able to kind of develop an idea of the stress on a player’s body throughout a given day, whether it’s a practice or a game,” said Indy Eleven head athletic trainer and Community Health Network employee Brian Gerlach. “We can track their trends, not necessarily against other players, but against themselves and how they’ve looked over the course of the season.”
Tracking trends becomes a key factor with the VX Sport system. A trainer can’t learn all that they need from a single reading from a player. Instead, daily reporting from practice sessions and games will paint a picture of how a player’s body is dealing with the stress.
“If we see a trend where a guy’s wellness score is going down, but his distances have stayed about the same, we know he might be getting a little bit fatigued, or we can see he is getting a little fatigued and he might need to take a little time off or give him a lighter day.”
Not every injury can be prevented, though. The “Boys in Blue” were struck with an injury bug early in the season that forced Indy Eleven head coach Martin Rennie’s starting lineup constantly rotate. While not ideal, Gerlach and his training staff worked behind the scenes to get injured players back up on their feet. The VX Sport system expedited the recovery process.
“To take the guesswork out whether a guy is ready to return. We’re able to objectify that question in order to make some decisions rather than just trying to make an educated guess,” Gerlach said. “You can really quantify how much a guy is doing each day and you can grade that return to play. You don’t want to send them from zero to 100 in two days time when you want to gradually increase.”
Building trends over time not only tracks wellness, but shines a spotlight on performance. With daily reporting with the system, coaches and trainers can look at specific metrics to keep players operating at their peak, and even improve as times goes on.
“I think the biggest thing with VX Sport is that not only are you looking out for athlete health, you’re also placing an emphasis on performance,” said Gerlach. “As we get better at using the system, frankly, it comes with experience and we get more data, we’ll be able to use it to make better decisions for our players.”
VX Sport isn’t meant to punish players for underperforming. The way that Coach Rennie has integrated the system into his squad’s culture is to create a sense of professionalism.
“I would say that it holds everyone accountable,” said Gerlach. “We can go in and see objectively how much work they’ve put in during a game or how much work they’ve put into practice. There’s no room to take time off in training because the system will expose that.”
Indy Eleven aren’t the only ones utilizing VX Sport’s technology. In January, the USL announced VX Sport as the Official Team Performance Monitoring Supplier for the next two years. VX Sport will be an official supplier for all USL properties, including USL Division III, USL Premier Development League and the Super Y League.
“VX Sport is a leader in the athlete performance monitoring industry, and we are thrilled to have them join our Preferred Supplier Program,” said USL President Jake Edwards. “As USL continues to grow, it is imperative that our clubs understand the importance of athlete data and its impact not only on player performance but also player safety. As a specialist in the sports environment and a company with deep firsthand experience in our league, VX Sport will continue to serve as an excellent resource.”
Among the USL, San Antonio FC has also utilized VX Sport technology.
“VX Sport has been a great addition to our team this past year,” said SAFC head coach Darren Powell. “Our ability to provide the players and staff with actual and objective information related to the player and team performance has been invaluable. We are really pleased to work together with the professional staff at VX Sport to continually develop the information we receive.”
Despite fans snickering at photos of players wearing the VX Sport harness, jesting that they look like sports bras, the technology serves as a reminder of Community Health Network’s dedication to the “Boys in Blue”.
“As an employee, I’ve seen tremendous support from Community and Indy Eleven,” Gerlach said. “This system is another example of Community’s commitment to the team and their long-term commitment to the players’ wellbeing and the players’ safety, and the team’s performance. They are dedicated to the players and they are dedicated to the staff.”
Sports related injuries have been a growing concern across all levels of play – youth to professional – over the last several years. With stories on horrific injures becoming more prevalent in mainstream media, many talented athletes are shying away from playing to their full potential.
The amount of stress a player’s body endures over time is presumably unmeasurable. Instead, most of the stress becomes apparent by way of recurring injuries, or worse, lifelong conditions that develop from extended play without proper monitoring, treatment or rehabilitation.
Until now, that is.
At the beginning of the season, Community Health Network provided Indy Eleven’s coaching staff and players access to the VX Sport system, a series of tools that monitors player fitness and wellness.
The system works in two ways. First, players are asked to submit a six-question wellness report on sleep, fatigue, overall wellness, hydration levels and muscle soreness. Second, players wear a GPS-equipped harness during training that records their accelerations, decelerations, distance, high-speed distances and heart rate.
“Using all of that information, all that data, we’re able to kind of develop an idea of the stress on a player’s body throughout a given day, whether it’s a practice or a game,” said Indy Eleven head athletic trainer and Community Health Network employee Brian Gerlach. “We can track their trends, not necessarily against other players, but against themselves and how they’ve looked over the course of the season.”
Tracking trends becomes a key factor with the VX Sport system. A trainer can’t learn all that they need from a single reading from a player. Instead, daily reporting from practice sessions and games will paint a picture of how a player’s body is dealing with the stress.
“If we see a trend where a guy’s wellness score is going down, but his distances have stayed about the same, we know he might be getting a little bit fatigued, or we can see he is getting a little fatigued and he might need to take a little time off or give him a lighter day.”
Not every injury can be prevented, though. The “Boys in Blue” were struck with an injury bug early in the season that forced Indy Eleven head coach Martin Rennie’s starting lineup constantly rotate. While not ideal, Gerlach and his training staff worked behind the scenes to get injured players back up on their feet. The VX Sport system expedited the recovery process.
“To take the guesswork out whether a guy is ready to return. We’re able to objectify that question in order to make some decisions rather than just trying to make an educated guess,” Gerlach said. “You can really quantify how much a guy is doing each day and you can grade that return to play. You don’t want to send them from zero to 100 in two days time when you want to gradually increase.”
Building trends over time not only tracks wellness, but shines a spotlight on performance. With daily reporting with the system, coaches and trainers can look at specific metrics to keep players operating at their peak, and even improve as times goes on.
“I think the biggest thing with VX Sport is that not only are you looking out for athlete health, you’re also placing an emphasis on performance,” said Gerlach. “As we get better at using the system, frankly, it comes with experience and we get more data, we’ll be able to use it to make better decisions for our players.”
VX Sport isn’t meant to punish players for underperforming. The way that Coach Rennie has integrated the system into his squad’s culture is to create a sense of professionalism.
“I would say that it holds everyone accountable,” said Gerlach. “We can go in and see objectively how much work they’ve put in during a game or how much work they’ve put into practice. There’s no room to take time off in training because the system will expose that.”
Indy Eleven aren’t the only ones utilizing VX Sport’s technology. In January, the USL announced VX Sport as the Official Team Performance Monitoring Supplier for the next two years. VX Sport will be an official supplier for all USL properties, including USL Division III, USL Premier Development League and the Super Y League.
“VX Sport is a leader in the athlete performance monitoring industry, and we are thrilled to have them join our Preferred Supplier Program,” said USL President Jake Edwards. “As USL continues to grow, it is imperative that our clubs understand the importance of athlete data and its impact not only on player performance but also player safety. As a specialist in the sports environment and a company with deep firsthand experience in our league, VX Sport will continue to serve as an excellent resource.”
Among the USL, San Antonio FC has also utilized VX Sport technology.
“VX Sport has been a great addition to our team this past year,” said SAFC head coach Darren Powell. “Our ability to provide the players and staff with actual and objective information related to the player and team performance has been invaluable. We are really pleased to work together with the professional staff at VX Sport to continually develop the information we receive.”
Despite fans snickering at photos of players wearing the VX Sport harness, jesting that they look like sports bras, the technology serves as a reminder of Community Health Network’s dedication to the “Boys in Blue”.
“As an employee, I’ve seen tremendous support from Community and Indy Eleven,” Gerlach said. “This system is another example of Community’s commitment to the team and their long-term commitment to the players’ wellbeing and the players’ safety, and the team’s performance. They are dedicated to the players and they are dedicated to the staff.”